It’s like clockwork: Mayor de Blasio denies an embarrassing Post story — and reality swiftly proceeds to prove him wrong.

On Thursday, police arrested four aggressive Times Square desnudas for allegedly holding a cellphone hostage until the owner paid them ransom. Charges include grand larceny and aggressive soliciting, and in one case both resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration.

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That’s exactly the kind of criminal behavior The Post had exposed just the week before, in a report that flagged the again-out-of-control antics of the “characters” prowling the area and terrorizing tourists. And not sticking to de Blasio’s Designated Activity Zones, which were supposed to contain the menace.

As ever when this newspaper highlights an outrage he’s ignoring, de Blasio answered with a sneer: “The New York Post thinks there is a resurgence because they like putting naked ladies on the cover of their newspaper.”

Never mind that the head of the Times Square Alliance pointed out case after case of abuse to our reporters. Or that Police Commissioner James O’Neill admitted that summonses for the aggressive money-grabbers are on the rise this year.

Now street-level cops have provided more proof. Is the mayor going to claim that the men and women of the NYPD just like getting naked ladies into the papers?